Mark Sappington, pitcher for the Inland Empire minor league baseball team of the Los Angeles Angels, in 2013. (Photo courtesy of Dirk Hansen)

On Wednesday afternoon the Rays announced a trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, of LHRP Cesar Ramos for RHP Mark Sappington.

Sappington is a 23-year-old right-hander who came into the 2014 season rated as the Angels’ fifth-best prospect by Baseball America. He, however, took a big step back and struggled mightily as a starter in 2014. A demotion and mid-season move to the bullpen revitalized Sappington, however, as Mike DiGiovanna wrote recently for Baseball America. Sappington’s big fastball and biting slider make him a potentially valuable power arm out of the pen — over 32 relief frames last season with the Angels’ High-A affiliate, Sappington struck out 49 and walked ten.

Sappington was one of the best arms in the Angels’ system, but his difficulty repeating his delivery and his struggles to throw strikes never allowed him to reach his potential despite a plus fastball (92-95 mph), average slider and tick below average change up.

Sappington’s emotional, adrenaline-fueled pitching approach and his inconsistent delivery have led scouts to believe that he would be a better fit as a reliever. The Angels moved him to the bullpen not longer after he was demoted to high Class A Inland Empire this season and he did show significant improvement.

Sappington had walked 69 batters in only 82 innings as a starter, but he had much better control once he moved to the pen, walking only 10 and striking out 49 in 32 innings. He is a potential setup man if he can keep put together even fringe-average control thanks to his plus stuff, but that’s been a struggle for him throughout his career.

The move is interesting and could open the long relief role for Jeremy Hellickson. With the Rays 2015 starting rotation all but sorted out, and without any accrued trade value following a pair of down seasons which bookended an injury culminating in surgery, Hellickson could excel out of the bullpen.

Noteworthiness

Ian Malinowski asserted, “Yesterday, the Rays traded long-reliever Cesar Ramos for to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for 23 year old relief prospect Mark Sappington. Scott covered already gave a description of Sappington, based on the available scouting reports. He’s something of a project. The Angels tried to make him into a starter and they failed. Now that he’s been moved back to the bullpen, Sappington has a live fastball that he apparently has trouble commanding, probably because of his funky, max-effort delivery. None of his other pitches project as good major league offerings right now,” in a piece titled The potential of Mark Sappington.

Wil Myers lies on the ground after tripping over first base and being called out in the sixth inning. (Photo courtesy of Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

You may call it lazy journalism, however the last thing I wanted to do was relive Wednesday night’s UGLY 11-3 loss to the Red Sox. Instead, I decided to recap the game as a series of tweets from Marc Topkin and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Back at it Thursday, Jeremy Hellickson will take on Allen Webster in the series finale. Webster (3-2, 5.81 ERA) put together a good three hit/two run outing against Tampa Bay back at the end of July — his first start with the Red Sox. However, in his last start against the Rays, he was tagged for six runs on five hits in four innings of work. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.

The Rays lead the majors with 1,169 runners LOB despite .248 BA. Since 1969, teams that led MLB with runners LOB had average BA of .272.

As is it wasn’t ugly enough, three Rays have gone down with some sort of an injury in the last two days: Yunel Escobar (strained left knee), Curt Casali (concussion), and Wil Myers. Both Escobar and Casali are expected to be out for the last four games of the season.

Jose Molina walks in to speak with pitcher Jeremy Hellickson as manager Joe Maddon makes his way to take Hellickson off the mound after he allowed four runs during the fifth inning. (Photo courtesy of Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

I’m not certain if the headline to ESPN’s piece on the Rays 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox is funny, ironic, or a combination of the two. It reads, “White Sox eliminate Rays from playoff contention,” and while the four runs put up by Chicago nailed the coffin shut, the Rays sealed their own fate a long time ago. But fine, I’ll take the bait and argue that if we’re looking at Tampa Bay’s elimination from the postseason on the micro level, then it was the lackluster performance by Jeremy Hellickson that sealed the teams fate, not the White Sox. After all, he’s the one who delivered the very hittable pitches.

In 12 starts this season, Hellickson’s only pitched past the fifth inning four times. And while it’s not uncommon for him to run into the big inning, he’s given up three or more runs in four of the above mentioned starts.

The four starts Jeremy Hellickson gave up three or more runs.

In short, it’s been the same story throughout the season: Hellickson throws well — albeit inefficiently — for a few innings, then he either loses his command around the fourth or fifth inning, or (as was the case of last night) the hitters make adjustments and he can’t adjust in kind. Whatever the case — and as a result — more times than not, he gets pulled in favor of the ‘pen.

True, the Rays did themselves no favors by going 1-5 wRISP, while also making three egregious running gaffes. I’ll concede, they should have tacked on more runs. However, by virtue of the fact that the White Sox did nothing offensively in the front and final four innings of play, this loss rests squarely on Helly’s shoulders.

I’m calling it now, if Hellickson doesn’t get traded ahead of the 2015 season — and honestly, with a 0.4 WAR I don’t imagine he’s accrued much trade value this season — he will get pulled from the starting rotation and end up in the bullpen, ala Wade Davis before him.

The New What Next

The Tampa Bay Rays still have an opportunity to end the season with a plus .500 record, though they can only lose one of their upcoming eight games. Chris Archer will get the start tonight against Hector Noesi. Noesi (8-10, 4.77 ERA) is a right handed fastball/curveball/slider/changeup pitcher that has been hurt by the Rays in previous years. Tampa Bay has tagged him with an 0-2 record and a 4.67 ERA – extending back to 2011. He did put up 1-1/3 scoreless innings in relief of John Danks earlier this season, in what would go down as a 4-0 Rays victory. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.

Since getting good, the Rays were eliminated with 11 games left to play in 2009, and two in 2012. They have eight left as of today.

The Rays are without Sean Rodriguez (bereavement list) and Brad Boxberger (paternity leave). Boxberger is due back Sunday.

For Hellickson, he is riding a streak of 12 consecutive home starts without a win — he’s now tied for second in team history, behind Scott Kazmir’s 14 in a row. Hellickson hasn’t had a home win since July 2013, and the Rays have lost his last eight starts. That’s the longest streak by a Rays pitcher since the Devil Rays era ended.

Longoria’s 46 RBI (in 57 games) since the All-Star break matches Adrian Gonzalez and Jośe Bautista for the most in the majors.

Evan Longoria hit a solo home run during the fourth inning of a game on September 17, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay is set to start its final home series of the 2014 season, a three game set against the Chicago White Sox, starting Friday. The Rays’ meager three-game winning streak was snapped in the 3-2 loss against the Yankees, Wednesday. And while they won’t play the role of spoilers against Chicago, the Rays still need to win at least eight games to end the season with a plus .500 record.

At 1-3 with a -10 run differential, one thing is crystal clear: Tampa Bay hasn’t fared well against the ChiSox this season. However, the White Sox haven’t really been barn burners over the last month or so. Since August 12 they’ve posted a 13-20 record while dropping 10 of 12 on the road and three of four overall.

For the White Sox, the return of Paul Konerko from the DL is expected sometime this weekend. Konerko — who is retiring at the end of the season — is the franchise’s leader with 4,008 total bases, and ranks second in games played, home runs and runs batted in. He’s appeared in 74 games in this, his 18th season, and hasn’t played since September 2 because of the injury. The other narrative surrounding the White Sox is Jose Abreu’s push toward Rookie of the Year honors.

With 35 home runs under his belt, Abreu is tied for a White Sox rookie record. Even so, he’s been mired in a homer slump over the last 23 games, having hit only two.

Chicago was swept in three games in its latest visit to Tampa Bay in July 2013.

Rays and Whie Sox series starters (over the last 30 days).

Rays and White Sox offensive numbers (at home, away, and over the last 30 days).

Rays and White Sox (by the numbers).

Jose Quintana: Quintana (8-10, 3.30) allowed one run and three hits in seven-plus innings, while striking out a career-high 13 in his last start. The LHP is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, 23 strikeouts and four walks over 20 innings in his last three starts. However, he is 0-1 with a 5.87 ERA in two lifetime starts against Tampa Bay (both in 2012). Key matchups: Yunel Escobar (2-6, RBI).

Hector Noesi: Noesi (8-10, 4.77 ERA) is a right handed fastball/curveball/slider/changeup pitcher that has been hurt by the Rays in previous years. Tampa Bay has tagged him with an 0-2 record and a 4.67 ERA — extending back to 2011. He did put up 1-1/3 scoreless innings in relief of John Danks earlier this season, in what would go down as a 4-0 Rays victory. Key matchups: David DeJesus (4-5, 2B), Yunel Escobar (1-3), James Loney (1-1), Evan Longoria (3-7, 2B, 2 BB), Wil Myers (1-2), Ben Zobrist (1-4, 2 BB).

John Danks: The Rays only faced Danks (9-11, 4.88 ERA), once this season in the above mentioned game. Tampa Bay was able to knock the RHP out of the game after 5-2/3 innings, after Danks yielded four runs on seven hits and four walks. Danks hasn’t gotten a win in his last eight starts, though three of his last four starts were hard luck losses of two runs or fewer. While he was predicted to be a potential strikeout surger by Fangraphs, his K% is down slightly over his previous year and his BB% has doubled, screaming command issues. Key matchups: David DeJesus (9-25, 3 3B, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Yunel Escobar (6-12, RBI), Nick Franklin (1-3), Ryan Hanigan (2-3, 2 BB, RBI), James Loney (3-12, HR, 3 RBI), Sean Rodriguez (6-14, 2B, 2 3B, 4 RBI, BB).

Noteworthiness

The Rays have held the lead in 12 consecutive games but are only 7-5 during that span. In four of those games, Tampa Bay blew leads of 4-0, 4-0, 4-0 and 3-0.

The Sox have lost 40 games after holding a lead, second most in the majors to the Rangers (43).

The White Sox hold a 72-55 lead against the Rays, and they’re 34-30 at the Trop.

Jeremy Hellickson walks to the dugout at the end of the third inning after his throwing error led to a couple of runs scoring. (Photo courtesy of Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

After facing RA Dickey 10 times over the last three seasons, while averaging just 2.4 runs per game in each of those starts, one thing has become certain: if you’re lucky enough to take a lead against the knuckleballer, then you’d better try your damnedest to hold it. The Rays did both Saturday. They were able to take a lead against Dickey, yet they gave it up in one fateful — error filled — inning. Despite a game tying sixth inning solo shot to left off the bat of Evan Longoria (his 21st homer of the year), the typically dependable Brad Boxberger gave up three runs an inning later, giving Toronto a 6-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. We in the blogosphere have deemed this the stereotypical (and clichéd) Rays loss.

A couple of thoughts/peripherals:

A comedy of errors… Or, at least fielding gaffes. The Rays’ un-doing began in the bottom of the third, when Ryan Goins struck out but reached first on a wild pitch by Jeremy Hellickson. Anthony Gose followed with a single to center, before Reyes put down a bunt single that Hellickson threw wild to first. Goins scored on the play, and then Bautista drove home Gose with an infield single off Hellickson’s glove. Lind grounded into a fielder’s choice to drive home Reyes, giving the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead. “An error by me, and me not being able to field my position, period,” said Hellickson. “That was pretty embarrassing. Those plays have to be made.”

Is Brad Boxberger running out of gas? It’s a fair question, since he’s now given up homers in back-to-back outings for the first time since June 24th and 27th. Moreover, he yielded three runs in those two outings after giving up only two runs in his previous 15-2/3 innings of work. Boxberger pitched in 79-1/3 innings last between the Padres and their AAA farm club — his high water mark. He’s accrued 72-1/3 between Durham and Tampa Bay this season — a number that doesn’t include the handful of unofficial appearances that do not toward his inning totals. He’s quickly approaching his innings threshold, and one wonders how much of an effect that may be having on Boxy? In a land where assumptions rule, we may be looking at the effect of depending too heavily on the plus arms in the pen, in lieu of those who couldn’t get the job done. Moving forward, the Rays front office should make some moves to bolster the 2015 bullpen.

The Blue Jays chose to go with Mark Buehrle instead of the previously scheduled Marcus Stroman this afternoon. I’d imagine that speaks volumes for how they see today’s game. Buehrle will be opposed by Chris Archer, who’s coming off an improved 6-1/3 inning outing against the Yankees. I hate to even bring it up, though someone has to: while the Rays have touched up Buehrle the last three times they’ve faced him, they fell to the Blue Jays in extra innings in each of those games. You can read about Archer in our series preview.

They also announced the additions of Alex Colome (Monday’s starter vs the Yankees) and CJ Riefenhauser.

In a piece about how the Rays may go about cutting the payroll in 2015, Marc Topkin expects the Rays to pick up Ben Zobrist’s $7.5 MM option, while also noting, “Of the five previously eligible for arbitration who combined to make about $10 million this season, a few are potential trade candidates, such as OF Matt Joyce and RHP Jeremy Hellickson, which could save around $10 million, while others will get paid, such as LHP Jake McGee, who was a $1.45 million bargain this year.”